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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26616835">Smoke Break</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColliderToastCrunch/pseuds/ColliderToastCrunch'>ColliderToastCrunch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Slice of Life, The Tower (Destiny)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26616835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColliderToastCrunch/pseuds/ColliderToastCrunch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A Tower guard shares a few cigarettes with a low-key Guardian. A quick smoke oughta take the stress off, right?</p><p>Quick one-shot I drafted up as I vowed to quit nicotine three months ago, written and set near the beginning of Season of Arrivals.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Smoke Break</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Smoke break.</em>
</p><p>Todd slung his auto rifle over his shoulder as he stepped away from his post overlooking the city. It was the most action the weapon would get all day, he figured. Not that he was complaining, of course. It was an honor to be a ceremonial guard on the Tower.</p><p>Didn’t mean it wasn’t boring as shit sometimes. Todd gave a half-hearted salute to another patrolling guard before heading up the stairs across from the Gunsmith. He’d given up introducing himself to Banshee after the thirtieth time or so.</p><p>At the end of the walkway up here was a nice view of the City, the difference being that Zavala wouldn’t complain about Todd’s cigarettes. He could still hear Lord Shaxx shout challenges to each passing guardian below him, but without the Iron Banner in session, it was more or less deserted up here.</p><p>Or so he thought.</p><p>“Mind if I grab a smoke?” Todd flinched in surprise, fumbling with his pack of cigs as he turned to see the source of the voice. It was another human, unmistakably taller, leaner, and with a piercing gaze that radiated confidence. Not to mention the armor in place of City jumpsuits, or the cape roughly tied into a scarf around his neck.</p><p>“Sure,” Todd replied, unable to hide his nerves. He handed the hunter a cig before pulling a lighter out for his own. “Need a light?”</p><p>“Nah, I got this covered,” the hunter assured him. With a flamboyant snap of his fingers, a flaming knife appeared, which he used to light his cig. With another gesture, the knife was gone.</p><p>Todd took a drag of his own, watching the guardian curiously. The hunter leaned against the railing, looking out at the City with pursed lips. Some pigeons perched above them flew away as the smoke wafted up in their direction.</p><p>“Thank you, by the way. I never find the time to scavenge many of these,” the hunter said. “Name’s Jean-Luc.”</p><p>“Todd.” He extended his hand to the hunter, who nearly crushed it with his shake. Todd couldn’t imagine if he’d been a titan. The titans he’d met working on the Tower tended to greet him with fist bumps, anyways; still hurt like hell, but shaking hands would leave Todd with surgery.</p><p>“By the way, the scarf get-up isn’t fooling anybody,” Todd said.</p><p>Jean-Luc pointed to his cape in feigned surprise. “You sure? Thought I was pulling a fast one on the whole tower.”</p><p>“Why bother?” Todd asked.</p><p>Jean-Luc took a low drag. “Vanguard knows I’m helping out. I take my assignments remotely. But it’s nice to come back to the Tower without being harassed about joining the Consensus.”</p><p>“You say that like they’ll take anyone.”</p><p>The hunter raised his eyebrows. “You think they won’t?”</p><p>“Hm.” Todd studied the hunter in between drags. “Not to pry, but what’s the point in a guardian smoking?”</p><p>A low chuckle escaped Jean-Luc. “What’s the point in doing anything?”</p><p>Todd stared blankly.</p><p>“Yeah, that never usually works,” the hunter said, pursing his lips. “Tell you what, want to be my shrink for a few minutes?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“Okay.” Jean-Luc nodded reassuringly. “Just don’t go telling anyone this shit. My buddy Ghost would kick my ass if he heard of me getting all mushy…”</p><p>Todd raised his hands in surrender. “Don’t worry, patient-doctor confidentiality.”</p><p>The hunter grinned. “Wise guy, huh? I oughta talk to more of y’all, guardians are becoming real sticks in the mud these days.”</p><p>“Hard not to be funny when your job’s to stand up here all day. Either that or you go crazy.”</p><p>“Huh.” Jean-Luc took a thicker drag, letting the smoke cascade over itself as he breathed out. “I’ll start with a question. Why do you smoke?”</p><p>“Probably ‘cause I went to the wrong parties before I was assigned to the City reserve corps.”</p><p>“But why don’t you stop? What’s keeping you in your addiction?”</p><p>Todd thought for a moment. No doubt he’d thought of quitting in the past five years, but he couldn’t really think of why except some vague concerns over his health.</p><p>“I don’t really know.”</p><p>“I mean, it’s terrible for you. You’ll die sooner, your voice’ll get all scratchy, you lose some sense of taste. If I were in your shoes, I’d kick it right now.”</p><p>“I didn’t think I’d be getting a lecture.”</p><p>“Okay, okay. But you oughta think about that. I don’t have to worry about all that, obviously.”</p><p>“Because of your ghost.”</p><p>“Yeah. My ghost, not my buddy Ghost. Completely different.”</p><p>Todd hesitated to raise the cigarette again. “Still haven’t answered my original question.”</p><p>Jean-Luc nodded. “Why do I smoke? I mean, have you seen the world lately?”</p><p>“I don’t get out of the City much,” Todd responded snidely.</p><p>“Consider yourself lucky.” Jean-Luc put out what little was left of his cig on the railing, sending a few lowly ashes fluttering down towards the tarp above Shaxx’s post.</p><p>“Out there, things are…” The hunter trailed off before returning with an almost hysterical tone. “Things are getting fuckin’ crazy, man. Cayde’s gone, yeah, but you’d think I’d be sadder about that. Instead I’m just scared.”</p><p>Todd could barely find his own voice. This was the closest he’d ever seen a guardian break down. “Of the Pyramids?”</p><p>Jean-Luc turned to him. The confidence that had been in his eyes initially had stripped away into something terrified. “Of everything! Cabal almost ended human life two different times in the past six months and no one bats an eye. Savathûn’s on the way, and the more I talk about it, the worse that’s gonna be. And yeah. The gods-damned Pyramids.”</p><p>Todd couldn’t think of how to respond.</p><p>“You know how many times I’ve died? I was rezzed a couple years after Twilight Gap, and back when I was fresh, things felt simpler? Like, we didn’t really know what was happening around us, but things seemed manageable. But now…”</p><p>“Things are scarier now that you understand?” Todd offered.</p><p>“Maybe. I guess.” Jean-Luc bit his lip, thinking. “I don’t know how all these warlocks stay sane. I bet I’m only scratching the surface of our problems.”</p><p>“Yeah, I don’t think I could comprehend a lot of the stuff they’re talking about,” Todd said. “My roommate a couple years back slogged his way through Ikora’s <em>Circles</em>. Literally just Volume 1. The dude practically had PTSD for a week.”</p><p>Jean-Luc laughed. “Yeah, all that theory and postulating is beyond me, too. Just point me where I need to shoot things or scout out, and I got you.”</p><p>“But there’s too many places to point now.”</p><p>The hunter’s faint smile faded away. “Yeah. Good way of putting it.”</p><p>The two stood in silence for a moment. Todd put out what was left of his cigarette.</p><p>“So yeah. I guess I smoke ‘cause I’m scared. So few hunters are even trying anymore out there, it puts a lot of pressure on me and my friends. I been trying to help out on Io as much as possible, but seems like <em>the</em> Guardian’s got somewhat of a grip over there. But there’s always busy work.</p><p>“It’s just, that busy work used to be fun. Being a guardian used to be fun. Now it just feels like a burden. I’ve lived through so much, but I’ve never really felt like the world was ending.”</p><p>“I think I was scared of everything outside the City walls until <em>the</em> Guardian showed up,” Todd interjected. “And I’ve sure been scared since. The Red War was right as I was joining up with the reserve corps. I never left the City.”</p><p>Jean-Luc nodded heavily. “I was off-world. Did what I could on Titan, but I was back here for the Traveler waking up.”</p><p>“Those weeks were hell,” Todd continued, “What the Red Legion did, it was <em>genocide</em>. But I made it. And since the Traveler woke up, I just haven’t felt scared. Even seeing the Almighty, I just knew we would pull through.”</p><p>He turned to the hunter, his eyes pleading. “You telling me it’s that bad out there?”</p><p>Jean-Luc frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t mean to scare you. But the way I see it, things are gonna get worse before they get better. And with the Darkness, that’s a hell of a lot worse.”</p><p>Todd nodded. He absent-mindedly reached for the pack of cigarettes, but the hunter snatched it and tossed them off the Tower in an instant. Todd hadn’t had a chance to react.</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>Jean-Luc took his arm, staring intently. “Look kid, I’m gonna go do my part in the coming war. And if we live through this thing, I better not find out you died from some bullshit disease.”</p><p>Todd stopped struggling against the grip, lightly nodding. The hunter let go, before shoving a small pouch into Todd’s chest.</p><p>“Twenty thousand glimmer. Don’t skip work. But I figure I won’t be buying much around here in the near future.”</p><p>Jean-Luc turned to walk away, tightening his cape into a somewhat more believable scarf. Todd could only stare, hands closing around the small fortune he’d been gifted. The hunter turned around briefly, walking backwards as he left.</p><p>“Patient-doctor confidentiality!” he yelled, pointing back threateningly. “Or I’ll personally make sure it ain’t a disease that takes you out!”</p><p>And with that, he bounced down the stairs. Gone.</p><p>
  <em>Time to get back to post.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to you all for reading! Haven't found the time to write recently now that uni has started back up but I've never posted this here. Hope you enjoyed it! Quitting nicotine blows but it's going well for me so far.</p><p>To anyone reading who follows my series Of Crows and Coyotes, more is on the way! I promise! Taking my time with it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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